Welllllllll folks my time in Dordrecht is up...for now. And to all you haters that don't believe me when I put things into the universe I say Ah ha!! Well I will be serving in Den Bosch. Don´t ask me where it is or anything about it I just don´t know. What I do know is that I will be serving with Zr. Morris who was my very dear friend in the MTC. Before we left we put it into the universe to be companions and HELLO! The universe responded! I´m soooooo excited. I will for sure miss Dordrecht part of me is worried I will leave but my heart will stay here. Dordrecht is the oldest city in Holland and is just gorgeous and perfect and the people are good and kind the ward is full of angels! I love Dordrecht and so I will put into the universe to serve here again later.
In other news, God answers prayers!!!! Once upon a time a couple of weeks back I ignored a prompting and it was the coolest prompting. Well, it was to play basketball. Yes, it´s true the Lord wanted us two girls in skirts to play basketball. It would have been great. You know talking with natives, maybe get some interest in the church and earn some respect. Well, I ignored it and have hated my self ever since. One day, Tuesday October 8th to be precise, We were going to an appointment but we left a half an hour early. No idea why it just worked out that way and as we´re biking I look at my watch and think that we need to talk to some people, we need to find someone during this time. At this point we´re rounding the corner and I think hey, this is the way towards the basketball courts and then I just prayed. ``Heavenly Father, If there is someone playing basketball I promise I will play.```wellllllll, we turn and I see the bouncing of a basketball through the trees and so I just yelled `WE`RE PLAYING!!!!`` and my companion is confused but quickly knows what I am talking about because I talk about playing basketball to find people all the time. So we stop and I ask this one young man if we can play he says, ```turlijk wel`` a.k.a. OF COURSE!!! so all the sudden he´s interested in why we have name tags and why we are rocking skirts and that we´re American. We chatted about the church and about why we are here and he´s super awesome. We asked him why he´s out playing and he says he doesn't play for a team he does´t play at all or even really like it but he had a free day today and just felt like playing basketball. He told us he never gets the impulse to play basketball. COINCIDENCE? nee. Well we´re shooting around and this African man we see all the time named Kabo happens to be walking by so we call to him and he comes over and is playing with us too. It was a gem of an experience and tragically we had to leave shortly after Kabo came but alas it was super great and I´m sticking to it....basketball is the best way to contact people.
I´ve thought a lot about that experience this week and how perfectly orchestrated it was. Kabo, Daniel, us leaving early, going that specific way it is easy to play it off as luck or coincidence but the fact is, is God is aware of everything and everyone. He loves us and wants the best for us so He provides ways for us to be in the right place at the right time for the right opportunities to come and for us to draw nearer to Him.
Side note: I don´t know if in Dutch it´s creepy and weird like it is in English but my companion pointed out to me that i happened to ask young 17 year old Daniel, `kom je hier vaak?` or as we say, `so, do you come here often?`haha classy. But hey.
So many funny things happened this week and I have had to pray so much to have the Lord help me stop laughing. I am laughing at bad times and it has been not so good this week but between service at a member´s house and visiting a lady in the nursing home I have been in stitches.
So Dordrecht is getting Elders! We are so excited and and ward is so excited! On Saturday they were bringing the stuff to furnish it and get is all ready to go and we had no idea anything about this until the Friday before and so we called the office to see if we can help and we were told that the ward members will be coming to help and that if we wanted to we could come come help for a bit but that it wasn´t necessary. They were to begin at 1:00. So we decided on Saturday that we´ll go see if they need help. This is around 2:30pm and we arrive to find a senior couple from den Haag. That´s it. We asked if others had come and gone....nope. NO ONE from our ward came to help. I was ticked. So, we stayed for almost 3 hours putting tables together (it´s all from IKEA so there is assembly required) hanging curtains, moving couches, cleaning, etc. Yeah. Well, I´m still upset about it. I don´t mind doing it but the fact is the ward is so excited for Elders but won´t help. It is absurd. The lights still need to be done among other things but, who knows if that will get done. I understand people are busy but it was Saturday and not only that but the Saturday after conference when your motivation to do good things is super high and excited....yeah I´m a bit disappointed. So that instance among others has made leaving Dordrecht a little easier.
Sorry for the downer. I think everyone should watch the talk by Elder Oaks again just to remind ourselves of what the Lord expects of us and what we covenanted to do. It was a good wake up call for me to realize my church calling and duty to God are the most important and should always take first priority and my other cares and concerns can just take a backseat for a while.
Wellll, I wish I had more time, this week was a treat. Just know life her in the land of the tulips (where I have yet to see one) is grand. Peace and blessings peace and blessings
Love,
Zuster Elting
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